A memorable evening with Grant Shapps

Grant was very frank about his early life. He attended a secular school, Watford Grammar, where he mixed with other boys of all backgrounds. He was described himself as ‘not a gifted academic’ but enjoyed local social activities such as the Scouts in Pinner and BBYO of which he went on to become youth chair.

He spoke of an early thought of a career in journalism but when asked to write about a debate in parliament, he became inspired not by the writing but by the actions of politicians themselves and the differences they could make to the lives of everyday people. He wrote to his local MP who invited him up to Westminster and showed him around which sealed his ambition to become n MP.

Grant shared that he didn’t really have any strong political leanings and didn’t even know if he would be labour or conservative but he was interested in the commercial world and so leant towards the Tories. He was therefore advised to gain some life experience and in particular in business and so started a small print company (in which he still has an interest) and built this up over five or more years.

He got involved with his local conservative association and supported his local MP’s back of his team but his own first opportunity politics was when he was selected to stand for the conservatives in Lambeth & Southwark (a safe Labour seat)! He very quickly learnt that politics is a people business and was popular on the doorstep talking face-to-face with voters and to his credit, he managed not to lose the party deposit!

Success came some years later when he successfully won the seat of Welwyn and Hatfield for the Conservatives and went on to serve in a number of Junior ministerial positions under David Cameron. He said that throughout his later career as business secretary and defence secretary under Rishi Sunak he never felt discriminated against as a Jewish MP and was treated fairly and respectfully by his contemporaries on both sides of the house. Defeated in the 2024 election, he doesn’t rule out a return to the house and urges any young person with a social conscience to consider public service through politics.

The Q&A session following his talk was lively and threw up some wide range in questions from his attitude to social media to whether he felt there were too many MPs in the house! The lasting impression he left with us was as a public spirited, business minded family man without airs and graces who felt he had something to contribute to the welfare of everyone in the country.

By Lester Wagman
Northwood & Ruislip United Synagogue